New Delhi: India has given permission to Nepal to sell surplus power in its market, the Nepalese Ministry of Energy, Water Resources and Irrigation said in a statement.
This will be the first time India will buy electricity from Nepal, which was helped by the fact that the Himalayan Republic became energy surplus in August after the 456MW Upper Tamakoshi Hydropower Project went on stream.
The Central Electricity Authority on November 1 allowed Nepal to sell 39 MW of electricity produced by the 24MW Trishuli Hydropower Project and the 15MW Devighat Hydropower Project in the India Energy Exchange Limited, it said. Both projects were developed with India’s help. It was on Wednesday that Nepal’s request for membership of IEX was approved.
Prime Ministers Narendra Modi and Sher Bahadur Deuba had met a day earlier on the sidelines of COP26 in Glasgow. Nepal media, which noted approvingly of the development, said Nepal was also exploring the options of selling electricity to India under a long-term power purchase agreement in the rainy season besides the current option of selling in India’s power exchange market.